Guide for Parents

Extend Guide for New Families

Welcome to Extend! We want you and your child to have a great experience when booking and attending our services. If you are new to Extend or unsure about something, read on!

Our Programs

Activities cater for primary school aged boys and girls, and ELC children at applicable schools. Each activity is tailored to the age group of children who are attending the program. For example, there may be a couple of different work stations which children can be creating from, based on their age group.

Holiday Programs are usually more structured, and can involve excursions and incursions. Holiday Program schedules are published in advance on our website.

Commitment to Child Safety

At Extend we are committed to providing an environment that is safe and promotes the well-being of all children at all times.

All staff working with Extend have completed Child Protection Training and are aware of indicators of abuse and neglect.

Extend staff are committed to responding to and taking seriously all disclosures of harm made to us by children. Staff ensure to make management aware of any disclosures as soon as practicable and are supported in the procedure of fulfilling mandatory reporting obligations. During this process confidentiality is respected as the upmost priority.

We promise to respond to all concerns, complaints and disclosures within a timely manner so as to ensure child safety is protected.

Our Protecting and Supporting Children and Young People Policy (7.1) contains comprehensive information around protecting children from abuse of all kinds.

If you would like further information around our commitment to child protection please ask your Service Coordinator or feel free to get in touch with Extend Management.

Enrolment

You must enrol to attend our services. Enrolment is via lookedafter.com and the process takes about 10-15 minutes, online on any device. Save time by first checking the LookedAfter guide for parents.

We encourage all parents at our schools to enrol with LookedAfter as this avoids problems if you need to use our services at short notice. There is no annual enrolment or membership fee!

Bookings

Extend operates at over 100 schools, offering Before & After School Care and Holiday Programs. You can find where we operate via our Find My School page, or by finding a school within LookedAfter.

You do NOT need to regularly attend the school itself to attend a Holiday Program – all are welcome!

Making a booking via LookedAfter is easy and you can do this online on any device. Check out the LookedAfter guide for parents on how to book.

Session prices depends on the school & day, and also when you book. Booking 14 days in advance secures the Early Bird tier.

A Last Minute booking is available until 60 minutes before the session begins. Your child may be able to Walk In without a booking but please be aware that this is not guaranteed and is also our most expensive tier.

You can cancel booked sessions 7 days in advance to avoid a penalty, and if you make errors you can remove penalty-free within the first one hour.

Getting Ready to Attend

If your child has any declared conditions, an Extend educator might contact you to complete a Risk Assessment prior to your child’s first attendance. We do this to ensure your child’s participation can be accommodated.

We encourage healthy eating by providing nutritional foods at our programs, such as toast, cereal, fresh fruit, milk, vegetables, crackers, pasta, sandwiches, and water. We do not provide nuts or products containing nuts and we are mindful of other high-allergenic foods.

You should pack a hat and a water bottle for you child during the warmer months. If your child requires any medication during After School Care, this will need to be given to the staff prior to your child attending.

Attending

After School Care is a brand new experience for some children, so we arrange for prep children to be collected from / delivered to their classroom for the first two school terms (sometimes longer) until they become familiar with the location.

If your child is hesitant to start Before & After School Care, set aside some time and pop in to the service to meet our staff. Your child can familiarise themselves with the environment & educators and we can answer any remaining questions.

Our staff will greet you when you drop off or collect your child from our service. Our Service Coordinators provide recaps of what your child has learned, and likewise seek to learn as much as possible about your child’s individual needs and interests.

We are happy to incorporate homework club upon request at After School Care.

If you are running late, please contact your service directly. Late pickup fees apply.

Billing

Please contact the LookedAfter team if you have any enquiries about your bookings or account. Our educators are unable to answer these questions as their focus is on providing exceptional programs and quality care.

Invoices are sent fortnightly in arrears and you can pay via POLi or via a debit / credit card.

Invoices include deduction for Child Care Benefit and Childcare Rebate. Child Care Rebate is NOT income tested and can save 50% from session fees. From July 2018 this changes to Child Care Subsidy. More information is available here.

Contacting Us

You can speak to educators directly via the service’s direct mobile number which you can obtain from the service on your first day. Please note that this mobile phone is switched on only during operation hours.

We encourage feedback and suggestions so that we can better cater to your needs. Each service has a suggestion box, and you can also contact the relevant Operations Manager at our Head Office. If you’ve had a positive experience with us, submit a testimonial.